Chuck & Kristen's wedding

Chuck and Kristen's wedding

Fun, fun

Mark and I drove west to Seven Springs, PA, over the weekend to celebrate the one-and-only Ashley's 30th birthday. To say we had a good time would be a gross understatement--there is never a dull moment when Ashley's around! It was great to catch up with a lot of her family and friends who we hadn't seen since her and Joe's wedding four years ago--a lot has changed since then (um, Ashley has three kids!), but it really felt just like old times again.

Seven Springs was beautiful--last week's no'easter brought a stunning blend of autumn and winter to the resort: Bright, brilliant leaves of red, yellow and tans blanketed with a soft layer of pure, white snow (we saw about 3-4 inches fall overnight). I'd never seen anything like it and wished I took more pictures. Clearly, I was too busy snapping shots on the dancefloor at the Matterhorn Lounge, where we spent most of Saturday night with some of Western PA's finest (lots of Steelers fans and, uh, interesting hair and fashion choices!). Check out this album for lots of pics from the night...

Caught in the act!

As I unpacked some groceries the other day, Eamon, ever the helper, pulled out a bag of chips. Much to his delight, the bag was already open. I happened to have my camera with me and stood by as he did his thing. Look how he first marvels over his find, then slyly sneaks his hand in the bag. And the reaction to him realizing I was keen on his act is priceless. Clearly, the sneaky move was worth it--check out his face after tasting his first (and hopefully last, for a while!) BBQ chip!

The week of E

Just a few moments from the week of E: hanging at home, eating spaghetti (and peas), cuddling with mommy, and trying out a new snack, raisins (he loves them). This weekend, he's heading to the Farm for a fun weekend with Papa and Diz while Mark and I head to Seven Springs to celebrate Ashley's 30th birthday party. Let's hope he's as good of a boy for them as he is at home!

E in the City

We had great day out in the city...met Mary Kay, Mike and his Ugandan cousins (in town for Chuck and Kristen's wedding, now just two weeks away!). The cousins had never been to NYC before, so wanted to see all of the sights. We did a little tour down 5th Ave, through Central Park, then down to Canal Street for some Chinatown bargaining. The weather was gorgeous and it was just so nice to be outside and to see our great friends (and meet new ones, too!).

Eamon had a lot of fun checking out all of the people, buses, and cars. At one point, we let him out of the stroller in Central Park and he proceeded to "dance" for a jazz band playing nearby. He loves to boogie!

Making up for lost time.

I haven't had access to my camera in weeks! I lost the battery charger and ordered a replacement from ebay, which wound up taking over two weeks to get to me! (Should've known better than to order from Hong Kong...). Anyway, I'll be making up for lost time with some new pics of Eamon having a great time at the playground yesterday.

Hello there!

Isn't Jack the cutest? He's almost seven months now and has a personality as big and animated as those blue eyes!

Eamon just loves his new outfit from "Diz"! She hought him these great OshKosh overalls and brown waffleknit top to go under. He got a lot of compliments when he wore 'em today...such a great look that'll carry him through the winter! So glad to have such a stylish mom! :-)

A day on the farm

Despite chilly temps and overcast skies, we ventured out to Chester, NJ, to visit Alstede Farm today with our friends Amber & Aiden, Crystal & Owen, plus Leezie, Speed, Jack and Sam. About an hour away from Boken, this is a lush and vast area of Jerz, dotted with well-manicured horse farms and well-appointed homes. Alstede features apple picking, but we apparently missed the boat on that one as they'd been all plucked (a little disheartening, as it was the main purpose of our trip). But pumpkins were in, and they had plenty of animals for the little ones to look at. So we wound up staying for a good two hours, finding the perfect pumpkins (kind of hard to do, since many weren't quite ready yet), feeding the goats and running around.

Of all of the fun they had to offer, Eamon seemed most interested in the metal carts they had for hauling produce back to the cashier. He and Sam pushed the cart (with the help of Speed) for a good quarter-mile--or more. Tough work! He also stole a pepper picked by Amber (she hoped to use it for fajitas) and proceeded to bite into it like an apple. His face was pretty priceless every time he chomped down on it!

More pics below. Happy fall!